It's that coveted day of the year -- when boys and girls become men and women, chefs become better chefs, and all of the media will immediately start debating who deserved a James Beard nomination and who didn't. Get excited!

Mom is finally selling houses! Problem is she isn’t licensed. No big whoop for her, the test will be a breeze! Except she freaks when she meets Kim, a mega realtor who’s sold 358 houses and is getting recertified. She walks out of the test, assuaging her failure with a Chipwitch. Mmmm…now that’s something I can get behind: Chipwitch and a mostly Mom-centric episode.

Eleven seasons, 150 episodes, three judges, a few Emmys sprinkled in, and dozens upon dozens of spinoffs — can you believe our journey with Bravo’s Top Chef has come so far? According to the men and women behind the most popular foodie TV show for 18 to 49 year olds, they certainly can.

Like any good Bravo executive, Andy Cohen soon steered the conversation towards the ideal combination of Top Chef New Orleans topicality and gay man speculation: What items of value would Padma flash her boobs for?

Check out our Q&A with John after the jump for more on how competing on Top Chef inspired his restaurant, what was going down behind the scenes (including, apparently, a lot of Xanax), and which Top Chef alumni he thinks tanked their careers after the show.

If Andy Cohen’s going to claim that there’s nothing wrong with accepting a tax credit, as Top Chef has done in the past, he should do it with the knowledge that this beloved budget-trimming benefit can still come with collateral damage.